International Astronomical Center

So far, the earliest sighting of the crescent was on Friday 15 June 2007 by ICOP member Mr. Majid Marzani from Tehran-Iran.

Friday 15 June 2007:

• Indonesia:

  1. Not Seen: ICOP member Mr. Ma'rufin Sudibyo said: "The waxing crescent (hilaal) observation was done in Kebumen (7deg 40min South, 109deg 38min East, 21 m above mean sea level, time zone = GMT + 7), Indonesia, at June 15th 2007. For time guidance, we used internal clock Siemens C45 phone cellular that calibrated by 103 dials. Based on MoonCalc v4.0, at sunset time the Moon has elements: altitude 1,94 degree, azimuth 298,98 degree (relative azimuth 5,47 toward Sun), elongation 5,86 degree, visual magnitude -4,57, phase 0,3 %, Moon age 7,25 hour (after conjunction) and crescent width is 0,08 arc minutes. All of reliable visibility criterions are showing that hilaal won't visible at this condition. But in Indonesia, this condition is critical, because widely known that the crescent maybe visible at minimum altitude 2 degree, approximately. Our observation started at 17:20 local time. We identified Venus (visual magnitude -4,3) at 17:31 local time or only two minutes after sunset. Although the western sky was clear, but in the western horizon was cloudy where clouds emerge to altitude 3 degree, so we couldn't identify where and when the sunset point. This situation hasn't changed until 17:50 local time when we finished observation and we conclude hilaal not seen by naked eye."

  2. Partly Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. AR Sugeng Riyadi mentioned it was partly cloudy.

• Iran:

  1. Hazy: ICOP member Mr. Mohammad Zahed Aram mentioned that he did not attempt to look for the crescent because the sky was hazy.

  2. Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Alireza Mehrani mentioned that it was totally cloudy.

  3. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Majid Marzani from Tehran said: "The crescent was seen by 9 person of UGCS group in Kordan near Tehran with telescope & binoculars 20*120 - 25*100. We were observing from 1478 m above mean sea-level, it was hazy"
     Observers in Iran

• UAE: Hazy: ICOP member Mr. Mohammad Odeh said: "Went with my friend Mahmoud Jawadeh to Hafit Mountain in Al-Ain city (160 km east of abu-Dhabi), although we were observing from 1000 m above mean sea-level, it was hazy and partly cloudy, so no crescent was seen through 10" LX200 Meade telescope. However this can't be considered real negative observation, since we were not able to do the alignment because of the clouds!"
  
  Western Sky At Sunset

• Saudi:

  1. Hazy: ICOP member Mr. Thamer Masoud said: "Today, the near perfect clear skies turned into a dusty evening and blocked most of sun light two hours before sun set. In these conditions, I couldn't sight the moon for today."

  2. Hazy: ICOP member Mr. Saleh Al-Saab said: "The weather conditions were soo poor, dust was very high above the horizon."

• Algeria: Hazy: ICOP member Mr. Bankih Kacem said: "Six (06) persons were present in Merkiche station and have tried to observe the Jumada II 1428 crescent but it wasn't seen. The western horizon was hazy. They have used two binoculars : 60x20 and 50x10."

• Morocco: Not Seen: ICOP member Mr. Othman Fadli mentioned that he did not see the crescent by naked eye nor by binoculars, and the sky was clear.

• Tanzania: ICOP member Mr. Hamza Rijal said: "In a tiny island of Zanzibar today is first of Jamad II, on friday we had failed to sight the Hilal as result we have completed 30 days."

• Germany:
  1. Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Gerhard Ahmad Kaufmann mentioned that it was totally cloudy.

  2. Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Ibrahim Leibfried said: "Before sunset I was at my vantage point. For a long time after sunset the sky was still so bright, that a sifting was not possible. Briefly before moonsat, it became dark. And when it was dark, they were too many clouds in the sky. Therefore it was not possibly for my to see the moon."

• France: Partly Cloudy: ICOP member Dr. Jaouad Alkhaliki said: "The horizon was a bit cloudy at the crescent place, so it could not be seen by naked eyes."

• UK:

  1. Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti from Oxford said: "Negative sighting in Oxford. A group of seven of us attempted moonsighting at my usual site at the end of the 29th day of Jumada I (Friday, 15 June 2007). The horizon was overcast and the crescent could not be sighted. We received the report from Meknes, Morocco of negative sightings there despite clear skies. This news and the expectation that there are no positive sightings east to our longitude are sufficient for us to complete this month and the first of Jumada II in the UK should be on the day after tomorrow, Sunday, the 17th of June."

  2. Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Sulayman Gani said: "I was near Leeds where sighting was attempted, but cloudy. In London skies were clear but no report of sighting."

• USA:

  1. Cloudy: ICOP member Mr. Javad Torabinejad from (Blacksburg, VA) said: "Due to cloudy sky and overcast condition, no sighting was attempted."

• Guyana: Cloudy: ICOP member Dr. Muhammad Hafiz said: "I was unable to observe the Hilaal after sunset on Friday, 15th June, 2007 in Guyana due to rainy clouds on the horizon."

Saturday 16 June 2007:

1. Saudi
2. UAE
3. Jordan
4. Algeria

The geocentric conjunction (Geocentric New Moon) will occur Inshalla on (Friday 15 June 2007) at 03:13 UT.

Thursday 14 June 2007:

• Indonesia: Seen: ICOP member Mr. Ma'rufin Sudibyo said: "The waning crescent observation was done in Kebumen (7deg 40min South, 109deg 38min East, 21 m above mean sea level, time zone = GMT + 7), Indonesia, at June 14th 2007. Our observation placed on Kebumen Islamic Center because this place has good view to eastern sky. The Wonokromo and Bulupitu Hills, which part of Kedungbener fault, evident in eastern horizon, while the crescent (and Sun too) estimated arises from Wonokromo Hill that has altitude 3 degrees, approximately. So the crescent will visible if it has altitude more than 3 degrees, technically. We used naked eye and helped by internal clock Siemens C45 cellular phone as time guidance that calibrated with 103 dials served by Telkom Co. Ltd. We also used the Moon altitude vs. local time table, which derived from MoonCalc v4.0 at topocentric, no refraction and sunrise/sunset geometric condition. Based on MoonCalc v4.0, at sunrise time the Moon has elements: altitude 14,38 degree, azimuth 59,95 degree (relative azimuth -6,63 toward Sun), elongation 15,97 degree, visual magnitude -5,66, phase 2,2 %, Moon age -28,3 hour (before conjunction) and crescent width is 0,6 arc minutes. Because eastern sky almost cloudy by cumulus clouds when we started our observation, the crescent was seen only from 05:05 until 05:09 local time when part of sky above Wonokromo Hill was clearer. Then, the cumulus clouds moved to North and cover up it. Because the crescent was blurred by thin-moderate clouds on foreground, we cannot identified the crescent "horn" and its orientation. The crescent was seen as point-light source like a bright star. But at that time, based on Starry Night Backyard v3.1 star map and Steve Moshier's Ephemeris Program v5.6, the nearest bright star was alpha Tauri (Aldebaran) and it has very low altitude and hidden by Wonokromo Hill."

• Iran:
  1. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Alireza Mehrani mentioned that he was able to see the crescent by naked eye.

  2. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Majid Marzani said: "The crescent was seen by naked eyes from Behind high buildings in Tehran."

  3. Seen: ICOP member Mr. Mohammad Zahed Aram mentioned that he was able to see the crescent by naked eye.
     
     Waning Crescent from Iran on Thursday 14 June 2007.

• USA: Not Seen: ICOP member Mr. Jim Stamm said:
  Location = Tucson, Arizona (USA)
  Longitude = 110.9645 W
  Latitude = 32.4204 N
  Elevation = 842 meters
  Time Zone = -7.0 hours
  

  Surface conditions at Tucson International Airport (805 m):
  Temperature = 22 degrees Celcius
  Relative Humidity = 23 percent
  Atmospheric Pressure = 1009 mb
  

  Magnitude limit at 6 degrees altitutde with 55 power in C-8 telescope, before onset of twilight = 10

  Topocentric and local time values from “Accurate Times”:
  Moonrise (at sea level) = 04:21
  Sunrise (at sea level) = 05:11
  Time from new moon at 05:08 = 16 hr. 13 min.
  Moon lag time = 50 minutes
  Relative Altitude = 8.8 degrees
  Elongation from sun = 9.1 degrees
  Crescent width = 12 arcseconds
  Illumination = 0.6 percent
  

  I was NOT able to see the crescent, even through a telescope. There were just enough thin clouds near the horizon to make the sky yellow.